Top Young Scientists Named at Awards Ceremony

An Otago PhD student researching
environmental contamination from leaky landfills has taken
top honours at the 2005 MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the
Year Awards, held in Auckland tonight.

Jessica North, who
is completing a doctorate in Environmental Chemistry at the
University of Otago, was presented with the gold MacDiarmid
medal by the Hon. Steve Maharey, the Minister of Research,
Science and Technology, and Jon Bongard, CEO of the naming
rights sponsor, Fisher & Paykel Appliances.

The winning
research uses environmental forensics, in the form of
isotope fingerprinting, to identify whether the toxic liquid
that accumulates at the base of landfills ¡V known as
leachate ¡V is contaminating water supplies and damaging
ecosystems in the surrounding area.

A Canterbury
University PhD student, Shelley Scott, has been named the
overall MacDiarmid Awards runner-up, for her research into
developing new methods of creating nanostructures for a wide
range of medical, scientific and commercial applications.
Two other entrants received special commendations from the
judges in recognition of the high quality of their research.

The prestigious awards, organised by the Foundation for
Research, Science and Technology, are named after New
Zealand-born Nobel Prize winning scientist Professor Alan
MacDiarmid and are designed to celebrate publicly the
achievements of New Zealand¡¦s future leaders in science and
to encourage others to follow in their footsteps.

Winning the MacDiarmid Award entitles Jessica North to a
trip to Washington DC to join the winners of a similar
competition organised by the prestigious American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and to
meet with key USA media representatives. She also receives
the gold MacDiarmid medal and a $2500 travel voucher which
will enable her to attend the British Association Science
Festival in Dublin in September. Shelley Scott¡¦s award
gives her a trip to Australia to attend a science
communication conference and she also receives the
MacDiarmid runner-up medal.

A panel of judges selected the
winners in this year¡¦s awards from a record 127 entries
submitted from around the country. Entrants prepare a poster
highlighting their research work with judging taking into
account both science excellence and clear communication.
Jessica North was also first equal in the Environmental
Sciences category while Shelley Scott won the Manufacturing
and Materials category.

Other winning
posters showcased research into:- the thinking processes
of convicted child molesters - the potential for
creating new cancer treatments using compounds in green
vegetables - a new drug which reduces heart disease in
diabetics - technology for farming kina to create a new
commercial fishing industry - better understanding of
the productivity of native forests - ways of improving
augmented reality systems for humans to interface with
computers

This year¡¦s eight category winners each receive
a cash prize of $2,000. In seven of the categories a
runner-up prize of $1000 was awarded and one outstanding
entry was highly commended.

A range of educational and
research institutions and private companies are involved in
the winning research projects and all acknowledge the work
supervisors and mentors do in terms of supporting and
working closely with the students.

Along with principal
sponsor Fisher & Paykel Appliances, other sponsors of the
Awards include the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced
Materials and Nanotechnology, the Health Research Council,
the University of Canterbury, the Institute of Environmental
and Scientific Research, Crop & Food Research, Massey
University, Hort Research, the University of Auckland, the
Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, Waikato
University, NZ Bio, Landcare Research, Fonterra, Right
Hemisphere, BTI Travel and Air New Zealand.

The full list
of this year¡¦s winners follows:

National Award Winner:
Jessica North (Dunedin), ¡¥Leaky landfills¡¦. Jessica was
also first equal in the Environmental Sciences
category.

National Award Runner-Up: Shelley Scott
(Christchurch), ¡¥Mimicking nature on the nanoscale¡¦.
Shelley also won the Manufacturing and Materials
category.

Winner Agriculture and Forestry and Fishing:
Phil James (Wellington), ¡¥Captive kina do well in
sea-cages¡¦.

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